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The hosts take on New Zealand in the tournament opener, having lost to them twice in the recent tri-series

Karthik Krishnaswamy18-Feb-20251:35

Urooj: Babar’s form is still a concern

Big picture: Pakistan vs New Zealand (again)

We live in a time when the ODI is starved for attention, with the older sibling commanding instant respect for its age and wisdom and the younger one bawling at full lung capacity if you dare to look away while it cartwheels around the room. For all that, the middle child never fails to remind us how captivating it can be whenever a global tournament comes along. The last two ODI World Cups produced so many classics between them, and so many passages of play that showcased the variety of skills that this format can both compress and give breathing room to.Given how little we’ve seen of it over the last year-and-a-half or thereabouts, then, our appetite for the ODI should be at its peak, even if the Champions Trophy remains an awkward fit in the calendar and the interests of the ICC’s member boards. So much has happened since Sarfaraz Ahmed lifted this trophy eight years ago, enough for everyone to forget that it even exists, but here we are now, and here it is once again.We have Pakistan, the defending champions and (co-ish) hosts, to start us off, and they’ll face familiar foes in the tournament-opener. No visiting team has played more ODIs in this country than New Zealand’s 11 since the start of 2019, and they begin this Champions Trophy a mere five days after beating Pakistan in the final of an ODI tri-series. Karachi hosted that match, and will host this one too.Related

• Rizwan says Rauf is 'fully fit' for Champions Trophy opener

It says something about the two teams that New Zealand and Pakistan finished fourth and fifth – just inside and just outside the knockouts spots – on the league tables of both the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, and that Pakistan won the head-to-head meetings both times. It speaks of two teams with potentially title-winning strengths as well as title-squandering flaws, and this, perhaps, makes it the ideal contest to kick things off.

Form guide

Pakistan LWLWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
New Zealand WWWLW

In the spotlight

He’s gone 21 innings without an ODI hundred, and while this wouldn’t be abnormal for most batters, Babar Azam isn’t most batters. That sequence only includes two single-digit scores, so it isn’t as if he’s been struggling, but few things will bring as much joy to Pakistan at the start of a global event on home soil as a big score from their until-recently-irreproachable run machine. He’s batting at the top of the order now rather than No. 3, so a score of significance will also ease any doubts Pakistan may have about the structure of their line-up.Rachin Ravindra was struck by the ball on his forehead during the tri-series•AFP/Getty Images

In the recently concluded tri-series, New Zealand’s spinners finished with a combined economy rate of 4.41, which was remarkable considering their Pakistan and South Africa counterparts went at 5.67 and 5.94 respectively. It speaks to the quality of Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell, who picked up five wickets apiece during the tri-series at near-identical averages and economy rates. They form as enviable a spin combination as any in this tournament: a left-arm fingerspinner and an offspinner, both extremely handy with the bat.

Team news: Rauf boost for Pakistan

Haris Rauf played no part in the recent ODI tri-series after going off the field with a side strain during the opening game against New Zealand. He has been bowling in the nets in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy, though, and Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan was confident he would be fit to start the tournament-opener. This should leave Pakistan able to pick a full-strength XI.Pakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Saud Shakeel, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (capt & wk), 5 Salman Agha, 6 Tayyab Tahir, 7 Khushdil Shah, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Abrar Ahmed.New Zealand go into the Champions Trophy with two of their original fast-bowling selections – Lockie Ferguson and Ben Sears – out of the tournament. There’s also doubt over whether Rachin Ravindra – who hasn’t played a game since being struck on the head by the ball while fielding during the first match of the tri-series – will be fit to start, but the opener has been batting during training sessions in the lead-up to this tournament. New Zealand will take a call on him after their training session on Tuesday, with Will Young likely to open alongside Devon Conway should they decide not to risk Ravindra. Ferguson’s replacement Kyle Jamieson will not arrive in Karachi in time to be available for the first game.New Zealand: 1 Rachin Ravindra/Will Young, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Matt Henry, 10 Jacob Duffy, 11 Will O’Rourke.

Pitch and conditions

Karachi hosted the last two matches of the recent tri-series, and they ended up as extremely dissimilar contests. On February 12, South Africa posted 352, the highest-ever total achieved at the venue, but that record only lasted a few hours as Pakistan hunted it down with an over to spare. Two days later, Will O’Rourke bagged four wickets and the unhittable Santner took 2 for 20 in his ten overs as Pakistan, electing to bat first in the final, were bundled out for 242, a total that New Zealand chased down with five wickets and 28 balls to spare.What sort of surface will the National Stadium serve up on Wednesday, then? Recent history suggests this is a testing venue for fast bowlers in ODIs, as their combined average of 33.67 and economy rate of 6.02 over this decade would attest. Where Lahore has tended to be just as harsh to spinners, however, Karachi has given them a modicum of respite; while their wickets have come at 45.50, they have only gone at 5.11 per over.Going by recent trends, pitches in global tournaments have tended to be good batting surfaces with something for bowlers to work with: the last three ICC ODI events – the 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2019 and 2023 World Cups – finished with overall run rates of 5.54, 5.59 and 5.82 respectively.Wednesday is expected to be a warm day in Karachi with a high of 29 degrees Celsius, and little to no chance of rain.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand (2000) and Pakistan (2017) both beat India in the final when they won their respective Champions Trophy titles.
• These two teams have met three times in the Champions Trophy, in 2000, 2006 and 2009, with New Zealand winning all three times.
• New Zealand have faced Pakistan 11 times in ODIs since the start of 2023, and the results have been neck-and-neck. While New Zealand have won five and lost six, they’ve won three of the last four meetings.
• Of the 47 New Zealand batters to score 1000 ODI runs, Daryl Mitchell has the best average (50.42). His strike rate of 97.89 is also hugely impressive, since all five batters above him on that list average below 30.
• Of the bowlers from the eight teams in this tournament, Shaheen Shah Afridi (21 at 22.04) is the highest wicket-taker in ODIs since the end of the 2023 World Cup.
• Babar, Fakhar Zaman and Faheem Ashraf are the only members of Pakistan’s squad who were also part of their victorious 2017 campaign.

Quotes

“We’re all equal whether someone’s a platinum or an emerging player. The senior players have a bit more pressure on them, and we expect ourselves to perform on the biggest occasions, and this is as big as it gets.”
“Anytime you’ve been in conditions you’re been coming up against is an advantage. We’re lucky we’ve been over here for a couple of weeks and played in Pakistan quite a bit over the last three years”

England fast bowler hit with suspension after cooperating with anti-corruption investigation

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2024Brydon Carse, the Durham and England fast bowler, has been handed a three-month ban after an anti-corruption investigation by the newly formed Cricket Regulator.Carse, who accepted the charges and cooperated with the independent regulatory body, was found to have breached ECB gambling regulations by placing 303 bets on various cricket matches between 2017 and 2019. He did not bet on games he was playing in but, according to a report in the , did place money on Durham games.After taking into account mitigating factors, Carse was banned for 16 months with 13 months suspended. He will be unable to play until August 28, ruling him out of potential involvement in England’s Test series against West Indies.Related

• Brydon Carse ruled out of Champions Trophy with toe injury

• Brydon Carse embraces cross-format role after England keep the faith

• Carse replaces injured Topley in England's World Cup squad

• Five things England can learn in the Caribbean

• ECB announces formation of independent Cricket Regulator

An ECB spokesperson said: “We take these matters extremely seriously and do not condone any form of anti-corruption breach in cricket.”We support the Cricket Regulator’s decision and their consideration of the mitigating factors in Brydon’s case. He has co-operated and shown remorse for his actions. We are satisfied that Brydon has shown growth in the five years since this breach and has demonstrated a greater understanding of his responsibilities.”We are hopeful that his case can serve as an educational example for other cricketers.”Carse, 28, has been capped 17 times in limited-overs internationals by England and was called up to their squad for the 50-over World Cup in India last year. He was given a two-year deal in the ECB’s last round of central contracts.Although he has yet to be involved in the Test set-up, he was part of the group of seam bowlers namechecked by Rob Key last year as central to England’s planning across formats, with the retirements of James Anderson and Stuart Broad set to create greater opportunities in red-ball cricket.Dave Lewis, the Cricket Regulator’s interim director, said: “The Cricket Regulator takes any breach of integrity or misconduct rules seriously and I would encourage any participant, from within the professional game, who has gambled on cricket to come forward and not wait to be discovered.”The Cricket Regulator understands the many challenges participants can face and will handle cases fairly, with understanding and support for anyone who wishes to come forward. We also encourage any participant struggling with any welfare concerns to seek assistance from the PCA or other trusted professional source.”

Both Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green are not yet 100%, as Australia wait to see how they shape up on the eve of the Test

Alex Malcolm16-Feb-2023Australia are sweating on the fitness of Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc before finalising their side for the second Test in Delhi starting on Friday, captain Pat Cummins revealed.Both Green and Starc trained fully on Wednesday as they continue their recoveries from their respective finger injuries but neither is at 100%.Cummins said no decision had been made on the composition of Australia’s XI as the selectors wait to see how Green and Starc recover later on Thursday.Related

• Cummins: 'I don't think we need to reinvent the wheel'

• Should Australia risk Cameron Green in the XI? Is there room for a third spinner?

• Starc 'still lacking a bit of strength', touch and go to be ready for Delhi Test

• Matt Kuhnemann called up as Australia face selection headaches

“Starcy and Green had good sessions yesterday and we will assess them later on today,” Cummins said on Thursday. “We don’t have a line through them yet, we’ll see.”Green is pivotal to Australia’s side given he provides a genuine fifth bowling option and also opens the door for three spinners to play in Delhi.Bowling is not an issue for Green but his batting and fielding remain a concern. He has not faced a fast bowler since he had surgery to repair his broken index finger after the Boxing Day Test. He batted for over an hour in the Arun Jaitley Stadium nets on Wednesday and faced throwdowns at full pace for the first time from Australia’s batting coach Michael Di Venuto as well as a lot of spin bowlers.Green also only caught hard cricket balls for the first time on Wednesday since breaking his finger on December 27 last year. They were also relatively gently-hit outfield catches before he returned to catching softer balls.If Green plays, he will be well short of 100% and Cummins’ conceded that it is a risk the selectors are carefully considering given his long-term importance to Australian cricket.”Having a right-hander helps and him providing our fifth bowling option also helps,” Cummins said. “He’s a big player. It certainly helps the team function well from batting and bowling.”You have got to be able to perform as well. He’s still coming back from that injury. He’s only had [one] session where he’s catching with a hard ball. He had a really good session yesterday. We will see how he pulls up.”If Green is able to play, Cummins confirmed Australia are considering playing a third spinner in a five-man attack instead of Starc, even if Starc is passed fit to play.”I think there’s a conversation,” Cummins said. “We’ll work that out by the end of today, I hope.”He’s one of the world’s premier bowlers in these types of conditions. We’ll see. As I said, the wicket looks like it might turn a little bit. I thought last week with two pacers, that attack functioned quite well but I think whether it’s Starcy, another spinner, Scott [Boland], variety in the attack does help.”Matthew Kuhnemann could be in line for his Test debut•Getty Images

Who will be the third spinner? Agar or Kuhnemann?

Cummins wouldn’t reveal which spinner would join offspinners Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy. Ashton Agar was the first-choice left-arm spinner on the tour and the incumbent second spinner in the team in the last Test of the home summer but bowled himself out of the side in the training camp in Bengaluru. He has subsequently bowled better in the centre-wicket practice after the Nagpur Test but he is now competing with Queensland left-arm orthodox Matthew Kuhnemann who could make a shock Test debut having flown into Delhi as a replacement for Mitchell Swepson, who left the tour for the birth of his first child.”We’re open to both options,” Cummins said. “We’re really confident both will do a fantastic job out there. They both had long sessions the last couple of days and looked awesome. If we wanted a third spinner variety we’d be comfortable with either of those two.”Given Australia’s horses-for-courses mentality, David Warner’s record in India has been a topic of concern following his twin failures in Nagpur. Cummins did not explicitly confirm that he would play but he was confident he would be in the XI and would find a method to succeed after being pinned down by R Ashwin for 10 off 41 deliveries in the second innings in Nagpur.”I’m not a selector. I don’t think they’ve had a meeting but I’m sure Davey will be there,” Cummins said. “You saw [last] year at the Boxing Day Test when he puts pressure back on the opposition, he’s pretty hard to bowl to. You don’t get as many good balls, so he knows that. I’m sure that’d be part of his plan. He has been batting really well here. Even in the lead-up, I thought he was fantastic. I know there’s a lot of talk about spin bowling through the middle but with that new ball it’s sometimes the hardest time to bat as well.”Cummins also revealed that Travis Head remains in the conversation to return to the side after he was sensationally dropped for the first Test in Nagpur due to his relatively poor record against spin bowling on the subcontinent. Head’s value with the ball gives him a chance of a recall if Green doesn’t play, as Australia did not get much out of their fifth bowling option in Marnus Labuschagne during the first Test. Cummins was full of praise for how Head had handled his omission.”Trav has been awesome,” Cummins said. “[He’s] been working really hard out the back on his game. He’s been fantastic around the squad like he always is. There’s always plenty of fun wherever Heady is. He’s absolutely part of the conversations for this Test, just like the first Test so he couldn’t be doing any more. He’s been fantastic.”

She is the first cricketer to be sanctioned since the BCCI agreed to come under NADA

Varun Shetty28-Jun-2021Madhya Pradesh women allrounder Anshula Rao has been suspended from cricket for four years, backdated to July 2020, for failing a dope test in March 2020. She is the first cricketer to be sanctioned since the BCCI agreed to come under the ambit of the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) in 2019.Rao, an under-23 cricketer who hasn’t yet played for MP’s senior team, is understood to have tested positive for 19-Norandrosterone, a performance-enhancing steroid that is “prohibited at all times” for athletes under the world anti-doping code. The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) heard Rao’s appeal last month and is understood to have found no evidence that she had taken the substance unwittingly.Related

• BCCI agrees to come under NADA ambit

• 'NADA has no jurisdiction over BCCI' – Johri

• Pressure on BCCI to comply with National Anti-Doping Agency after Prithvi Shaw's suspension

Rao last played for MP in the women’s U-23 T20 trophy in 2019-20, and had consistently been part of their age-group teams. In her last match for the side, Rao had opened both the bowling and the batting. Rao had then tested positive in March, shortly before the scheduled tournament was cancelled due to the looming Covid-19 pandemic.At the time, Rao had to seek financial assistance for a Sample B analysis to challenge her test results, owing to the costs of sending such a sample overseas during the pandemic. Following that, Rao made her case before the ADDP in May, and was among 23 athletes to be given a sanction order. ESPNcricinfo understands that the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) will help her financially “to an extent” as she serves her ban period.The BCCI had previously resisted coming under the NADA ambit and ran its own anti-doping tests. It was the only exception in the world of cricket – all other countries complied with their national anti-doping agencies, which in turn are affiliated with the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA). Among BCCI’s arguments had been that it was not a national federation, and that it had been a signatory to the ICC anti-doping code since 2011, which in turn was based on the WADA code, and therefore additional scrutiny was not necessary.But BCCI was put under pressure by the sports ministry of India in 2019, in a letter sent shortly before BCCI found Prithvi Shaw had tested positive for a banned substance. Among the questions addressed to BCCI in that letter was that of a conflict of interest, given that “BCCI is an interested party and also the appointing authority for the appointment of officers, tribunal members or appellate authority for adjudication.”Following that, BCCI said that it had decided to come under NADA, after assurances from the sports ministry about the concerns it had raised.

Cricket Australia hopes to be able to complete a full top-level domestic schedule, with the season set to extend well into April

Daniel Brettig08-Oct-2020Back in May, at the height of Cricket Australia’s anxiety about the impact of Covid-19 on this season, draft plans for the Sheffield Shield had it pared back to just five rounds, all played after the conclusion of the BBL.As for as the pointy end of the red-ball portion of the summer, the weeks leading into the Test series with India, the national selectors would have been compelled to stick with what they knew. The chances of anyone emerging from domestic ranks with a rush of runs or wickets in the domestic competition would have been non-existent.In subsequent weeks, either side of the exit of CA’s former chief executive Kevin Roberts, Shield scenarios gradually returned to something a little more recognisable, even if there was far from universal agreement about exactly how it should look.ALSO READ: Sheffield Shield preview – Squads, players to watch, new signings and fixtures The requirement for a 10-round competition plus a final is inked into the MoU between CA and the Australian Cricketers Association: as of Saturday, the tournament will begin with four rounds across three grounds in Adelaide, with the remainder to be played in 2021 in what the high performance chief Drew Ginn hopes will be a far less regimented patchwork of border and health restrictions. As it is, Ginn said that the domestic season would be stretching far deeper into April than usual, while plans will be reassessed every two weeks.”There’s been lots of permutations. I’d be safe to say I’ve seen a spreadsheet that’s just grown in columns across the page,” Ginn said. “We started out to play a full domestic home and away summer and play everything we possibly could. Five months ago we started looking at the various scenarios we might be confronted with, so we worked that through not only with the states but also the ACA, and it’s safe to say some of the potential scenarios weren’t really palatable to anyone.”Our intent has always been to run the full competitions and maximise cricket as much as possible. We’re also fitting in with our other priorities, and India’s a massive priority for the international season for us and we’re really excited to see that come to life, and the Big Bash and WBBL. State cricket fits in with those other competitions as a really important backbone for what we do, but scheduling conversations and scenarios have been mapped out extensively.”We’re dealing with changing situations with government restrictions and changing situations with Covid-19. We’ll keep assessing on a two-week cycle, just to make sure we’re adapting and doing what we can, and if anything throws up a spanner, we’ll deal with that as it comes.”Karen Rolton Oval will be one of the venues used for Sheffield Shield hub•ICC

Reflecting the array of different regulations in place across the country, not all states will have things as easy as others. Victoria’s squad is currently in hotel quarantine at Adelaide’s Playford hotel, with training restricted to groups of four transported under guard to the nets. By contrast, South Australia have the benefits of home comforts, while the New South Wales squad departed earlier than originally scheduled on Thursday in advance of a slight rise in Covid 19 cases in the state: the better to make the trip before the state border has a chance to be closed again.Each match will be live streamed with sufficient quality to also be made available through CA’s digital streaming partner Kayo, owned by Foxtel. Still more promising is the prospect that, unlike those pessimistic May forecasts, the Shield may end up being played to a more complete duration than it was last season, when the final round and the final were both cancelled to hand the trophy to New South Wales.”Anything is possible, but we’re planning on the back end of the domestic summer to be complete,” Ginn said. “We’re optimistic that the borders will keep improving. We have planned in the rounds we’re going to play, not only in Shield but also the one-day cup and the WNCL as well.”We can’t do a whole lot about Covid-19, so if things get dramatically worse, that’ll be the thing that jeopardises that opportunity. Running to the end of April is an adaptation we’ve created already, so conversations about what that has to be like if we get further restrictions, we’ll do, but we have to be optimistic that things will improve.”All parties concerned, whether they be CA, the states, the players or support staff, are ardently hoping that the hubs required for the first four rounds and potentially the BBL will not be necessary for the back end of the season. But given the wide spectrum of possible scenarios that the Shield has been subjected to over the past few months, all are wary of further change.”When you look at the entire season, there’s a lot of hub time that could be experienced by players, coaches and staff, so that’s not our preferred scenario,” Ginn said. “We are prepared for it if it has to happen.”We’re planning for the back end of the season to be much more free in terms of border restrictions, and much more like a normal domestic competition – in a Covid-19 environment so we’ll still be staying as safe as we can – but the main thing is we’ll keep assessing that as we get closer to the BBL period. Fingers crossed we’re running things much more in line with what we do traditionally, but we do have flexibility.”

Rangpur Riders will now face Dhaka Dynamites in the Qualifier 2 on Wednesday

The Report by Peter Della Penna04-Feb-2019How the game played outComilla Victorians’ disciplined display with the ball was followed by a perfectly calculated chase to book their place in the final of BPL 2018-19 with a comfortable eight-wicket win over Rangpur Riders.The regular season leaders looked out of sorts after a mandatory reshuffle to their top-order due to the end of AB de Villiers six-match contract and Alex Hales’ return home due to a shoulder injury. Domestic batsmen Mehedi Maruf and Mohammad Mithun combined for a total of four runs in place of both departed overseas stars as Riders could manage only 34 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay.A late burst by Benny Howell, who made an unbeaten 53 off 28 balls as part of a 70-run fifth-wicket stand alongside BPL 2018-19 scoring leader Rilee Rossouw, gave them a respectable total. But many of Riders’ wins with de Villiers in the lineup were orchestrated with scoreboard pressure by batting teams out of the match.The Riders bowling unit had no such luxury to fall back on in this instance and Evin Lewis steered Victorians chase with excellent support from Anamul Haque and Shamsur Rahman. The contributions of the latter two exposed Riders’ lack of contributions from local batsmen all season. Shamsur turned on the afterburners with four boundaries off the last seven balls of the match to end with an unbeaten 34 off 15 balls, clinching victory with seven balls to spare.Turning points

• Chris Gayle was well-set on 46, but one over after being dropped on the boundary, he skied another chance off Mahedi Hasan that was taken by Thisara Perera to start the 11th over
• Playing just his second match of the season, Sanjit Saha’s unorthodox offspin action kept Riders batsmen off balance all day, culminating in Ravi Bopara being caught down the leg side in the 13th over
• Despite a lack of wickets, Riders had done well to build pressure in the field by denying boundaries but with 38 off four overs needed, Ravi Bopara finally cracked allowing a six and four to Shamsur Rahman in a 13-run 17th overStar of the dayLewis played a somewhat understated knock, if such a thing is possible when top-scoring with 71 not out off 53 balls. After back-to-back fours off Sohag Gazi to begin the fourth over, he never hit more than one boundary in any over. But every time it appeared he might be getting bogged down, he’d find a release shot, like slaying Farhad Reza over deep midwicket for six to bring up a 42-ball half-century at the end of the 13th over. He made sure the required run rate never got out of hand.The big missRangpur had two wins and four losses halfway through the regular season before de Villiers joined to spark a six-game winning streak. His departure for the playoff phase left a gaping hole in Riders’ batting unit. Combined with the injury to Hales, Riders looked nothing like the team that topped the points table in the league phase.Where the teams standRiders now will face Dhaka Dynamites in the Qualifier 2 on Wednesday. The winner will face Victorians in the tournament final on Friday.
  

Amid tense scenes at The Oval, on the final day of the season, Essex inflicted a first defeat on champions Surrey

Paul Edwards at the Kia Oval27-Sep-20181:15

Championship win finally starting to hit home – Burns

ScorecardThe chairmen of the first-class counties were holding a meeting at The Oval on this final day of the 2018 season. One would like to think they could not give much attention to their agenda. One hopes they looked outside and saw the County Championship offering its final blazon of the summer. One hopes they watched Essex defeat Surrey by one wicket and realised they hold a priceless game in their hands. And there is no harm in hoping these things; hope and reflection are the staple foods of cricket lovers in autumn.Yet for almost all of this remarkable day there was no time for gentle elegy or fond recollection. Instead there was only the keen blade of battle as Essex dismissed Surrey for 541 and then sought to score the 132 runs they needed to inflict a first defeat of the season on the 2018 champions. No team in the history of first-class cricket had ever conceded a first-innings deficit of 410, as Surrey had here, and gone on to win. Only the early afternoon shadows suggested late September; the cricket itself was of such intensity it could have played in mid-June with the title still in the hazard.The climax of this extraordinary game saw the Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate pitched against the three-man Surrey attack. Inspired by the final challenge of defending a mere 131 before receiving the Championship trophy, Morne Morkel, Jade Dernbach and Amar Virdi had set about their task without restraint. On the Harleyford Road the 436 went to Paddington by way of Marble Arch and the 185 to Lewisham by way of Denmark Hill. Inside the Oval a few thousand watched in the sharp afternoon sunshine as Morkel straightened one up to knock back M Vijay’s off stump. Then Martin Saggers agreed that Nick Browne had edged Virdi to Rikki Clarke at slip. The batsman was unconvinced but the visitors were 25 for 2, still over 100 runs from their target.Ryan ten Doschate got his side over the line•Getty Images

Like many batting sides before them, Essex got a severe attack of the jitters. Dan Lawrence edged Dernbach to Clarke at slip and Ravi Bopara ambled off miserably when given out caught at short leg off Virdi: 47 for 4. Eight runs later the Dernbach/Clarke combination got rid of Tom Westley for 20 but suddenly ten Doeschate began a counter-attack against Virdi, who conceded 30 runs off three overs as he was swept and reverse-swept to the fence.By now a crowd which had turned up partly to watch the trophy presented and the champagne dutifully sprayed were fully engaged in the latter stages of an epic contest. Ten Doeschate and Adam Wheater took the score to 97 but Wheater then edged Morkel to Ryan Patel at second slip. Two balls later Simon Harmer nicked a catch to Ben Foakes off Morkel, who four overs later claimed his 59th and final wicket of the season when he had Jamie Porter lbw for 4: 111 for 8.Matt Coles put on 13 more with ten Doeschate before being called by his captain for a third run which he had no hope of making. Ten Doeschate, you see, can run like the wind; Coles cannot. Mark Stoneman stopped the ball on the boundary and dragged it back to Will Jacks, who hurled it to Foakes. Coles was run out by the length of a long jump pit and went off with the air empurpled around him.Now Matt Quinn joined ten Doeschate and the Surrey fast bowlers put in one last effort. Singles and twos were scampered. Morkel did not spare himself. His devotion to this county could not be greater had he been born in Virginia Water rather than Vereenging. He rattled Quinn’s helmet and hit him on the hand but he could not dismiss him. Then ten Doeschate nudged Dernbach to long leg and both game and season were done.Tastes sweet: Morne Morkel drinks in Surrey’s title•Getty Images

The players gathered together in mid-pitch and exchanged handshakes. As county cricketers have done on countless occasions for over a century they agreed what an incomparable game this is. Coles, who had earlier taken completed a five-wicket haul to set up his side’s victory, offered his congratulations to Surrey’s players on their title. Rory Burns and his colleagues then devoted themselves to the serious celebrations. Unfortunately, though, Colin Graves, the chairman of the ECB, was not available to present the trophy to Surrey. This was a shame. Graves has many responsibilities but presenting such worthy champions with their prize was an honour he should have accepted and relished. His absence did him no credit.But perhaps it hardly mattered. The thousands who gathered in front of one of cricket’s greatest pavilions did not miss Graves and neither did Surrey’s players. They will, though, remember one of the great summers of their lives, a summer which ended with a glorious contest played between two sides neither of whom spared a sinew. If this was the day when the 2018 season withdrew from our sight and took its place in our memory, we can at least be sure it will occupy an honoured place.For our cricket ended, much as it has been played, under a cloudless blue sky. It ended on a day when only one game was taking place. Both these things were entirely fitting. They brought a proper sense of closure to an idyll which, regardless of its off-stage rumblings, has been one to treasure. It will take more than the absence of one man, however grand, to remove the gilt from that gingerbread.

Imran Tahir raised Derbyshire’s hopes of back-to-back victories by taking five wickets on his debut as Durham collapsed on the second day of the Division Two match at Chesterfield

ECB Reporters Network04-Jul-2017
ScorecardImran Tahir claimed a five-wicket haul•Getty Images

Imran Tahir raised Derbyshire’s hopes of back-to-back victories by taking five wickets on his debut as Durham collapsed on the second day of the Division Two match at Chesterfield.The South African, who is playing for his sixth county, celebrated by sparking the decline that saw Durham lose 4 for 18 in 43 balls either side of tea before the visitors rallied to avoid the threat of following-on.Derbyshire controlled the game for much of the day with Billy Godleman falling two shot of a century as he and Gurjit Sandhu took their 10th wicket stand to 102 before the home side were bowled out for 368.Durham were going well at 119 for 1 but after Jack Burnham played on to Tahir and 16-year-old off-spinner Hamadullah Qadri bowled Michael Richardson for 64, the visitors crumbled before Paul Coughlin with an unbeaten 62 and Barry McCarthy guided them to 274 for 8, 94 behind.Derbyshire’s first objective at the start of the day was to get to a fourth batting point which was achieved after a 35-minute rain break with Godleman and Sandhu frustrating the bowlers for another 15 overs before Godleman was caught behind hooking at Coughlin.Sandhu followed his unbeaten career-best 48 by taking the new ball but Richardson and Cameron Steel added 52 before a mix-up saw Steel run out for 21 in Tahir’s first over.The legspinner’s second over gave no indication of what was to come as Richardson dispatched him for two fours before Burnham drove him over extra cover for six.But when Burnham tried to whip a ball from off stump and chopped on, Durham’s hopes of a decent reply faded as Qadri followed his record-breaking five-wicket haul at Cardiff last week by beating Richardson in the flight.Paul Collingwood was bowled pushing forward at Tahir in the first over after tea, Ryan Pringle was lbw playing back to one that sung in from Sandhu and Graham Clark was the sixth to go with Durham still 205 behind.The threat of the follow-on loomed when Stuart Poynter sliced a drive to point and Tahir bowled Matthew Potts with the next ball but Coughlin and McCarthy denied Tahir to keep Durham in the contest.